I Love The Ring Of Your Name, You're The Ying To My Yang
by lovelyMary
Summary: Juliette has her mind set on a name for their daughter but Avery is not quite as enthusiastic about it. One-shot. Fluff with a hint of angst.


A/N: A pregnancy storyline is definitely not something I wanted for season 3 but my muse was intrigued by all the speculation and came up with this. Hope you all like it.

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"Why are you being so unreasonable?" she threw her hands up in exasperation before setting the notepad on the table in front him.

His fingers froze on the strings of his guitar as he looked up at her with indignation and countered with a question of his own.

"Why are _you_ being so stubborn?"

"I am not being stubborn," she snapped back crossing her arms across her chest defiantly, a small pout beginning to form on her lips.

Taking a deep breath, he set his guitar down and turned towards her. Reasoning with Juliette when she had her mind set on something was hard enough under normal circumstances. Reasoning with Juliette under the influence of pregnancy hormones could be like navigating a minefield, one wrong move and the most trivial issue could quickly turn into an all out fight.

"Juliette, baby, I love you but we _cannot_ name our daughter Avery."

"Why the hell not?" she said, her voice rising slightly.

"Jules…"

"No, seriously. Give me one good reason and I'll let it go," she challenged.

"Okay. How about the fact that it's a guy's name?"

"Ha! Wrong. Avery is a unisex name, see" she grabbed the iPad off the table and pulled up the baby names website and showed him the tiny pink and blue pacifiers next to the name Avery indicating that the name was appropriate for both genders.

He looked at the page with pursed lips before setting the device back down, unwilling to concede just yet.

"Okay, that argument may have worked for those pillows but this is an entirely different situation."

He knew he was headed for trouble when his response earned him a patented Juliette Barnes glare.

"I know that it's not the same situation," she answered tightly.

He moved to join her on the couch and she turned away from him slightly in an attempt to hide the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes. She used to be an expert at keeping her emotions in check, but that was before. Before all these hormones made an emotional basket case. Before she fell in love with a man that had single handedly dismantled all the walls she had spent years building.

He reached over, gently placing his palm on the side of her face and turning it so that she was looking at him.

"Baby, what is this really about?"

"It's about finding the perfect name for our daughter. I don't understand why you're so against this. Don't most guys love naming their kids after them?"

"Well I'm not most guys and besides we both know this about more than just the name. Talk to me," he pleaded taking her hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

She looked up at him sheepishly. She was still amazed by how well he knew her.

"It's nothing...I just...I don't know. I guess I just thought it would be nice a way to give her a little extra you," she intertwined their fingers gently rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand.

"What?" he asked slightly bewildered.

She let her hand drop from his and placed it on the slight swell of her belly. "You know, to compensate for all the me," she said softly looking down, unable to make eye contact.

He tilted her chin up to face him just as the first tear made it's way down her face. He wiped it away and looked her straight in the eyes in an attempt to let her know just how serious he was.

"That's the last thing I would ever want. Our daughter," he placed his hand over hers on her belly, "she's made up of both of us. All of us, the good, the bad and everything in between. Neither of us is perfect Juliette, but I'd like to think that she'll have the best of each of us in her."

She offered him a small smile as she wiped the tears that were now flowing freely down her face. "I really hope you're right."

He smiled back at her and pulled her into his arms. "Just for the record, nothing would make me happier than having a little girl that's strong, beautiful, talented, caring and brave just like her mama."

"How is it that you always know the exact right thing to say to me?"

He chuckled a bit. "Just one of my many talents, I guess," he whispered as he nuzzled her neck placing a soft kiss on that special spot behind her ear.

"Hmmm," she sighed contentedly. "And speaking of your many talents," she turned to face him bringing her lips down towards his for a sweet kiss that she hoped would convey all the feelings that she wasn't sure she could put into words. After everything that they had been through in the last few months, the fact that he hadn't abandoned her in spite of what she'd done, that he had given her the opportunity to make things right again, meant more to her than she would ever be able to tell him.

"Thank you," she said softly when she finally broke the kiss.

"Um, you're welcome," he said slightly confused as he leaned in for another kiss.

She smiled into his kiss. "As great as that kiss was, that's not what I meant."

"Okay so what exactly are you thanking me for then?"

"For everything. For being you, for not giving up on me, on us. I know how hard these last few months must have been for you and despite all that you're still here and I'm just really grateful. I mean I'm still terrified of what's coming but I know that I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you. So thank you."

"I know things between us weren't ideal for a while there but I need you to believe me when I say that there is no where else I'd rather be so you really don't have to thank me. And I'll let you in on a little secret, I'm terrified too."

"You are?"

"Of course I am, but we're in this together and I know that whatever happens we'll figure it out together. You, me and this one here," he said gently rubbing her belly.

"This one, is that what we're calling her?" she asked playfully.

"Hmm, well it would original. Definitely better than Avery," he teased her.

"Ha ha, very funny Barkley."

"Alright, alright," he said grabbing the iPad and notebook off the table. "Let's see if we can't find something a little more appropriate."

She grabbed the notebook from him and readjusted herself so that she was now facing him.

"Okay, but I'm keeping Avery as backup,"she said matter-of-factly as she added the name to her short list.


End file.
